Adding Up to Family

by Marie Ferrarella

  He had a pragmatic question for her. “If she doesn’t show it, how do you know it matters to her?”

  “It does,” Becky insisted. “Trust me. Now sign the card before you come in,” she instructed, handing him a pen, as well, and then slipping back into the house.

  Becky was back in the kitchen, getting dinner on the table, when she heard the front door opening.

  “Stephanie, your father’s home!” she called out toward the girl’s bedroom. “See? I told you he’d be home in time for dinner.”

  Within a couple of minutes, Stevi walked in, making a show of being totally unhurried. “Did they run out of work for you to do?” she asked him as she came into the room.

  “No, there’s still work,” Steve assured her. “I just told them I had to go because my daughter graduated from summer school today and I wanted to come home to give her this.” He underscored his statement by handing her the card that Becky had just given him to sign.

  Stevi was clearly caught off guard. “You’re giving me a card?”

  Steve smiled at his daughter. “Sure looks that way, doesn’t it?”

  For a second, from the way he worded his response, Becky was afraid that he was going to tell his daughter where the card had actually come from. But he didn’t, and fortunately, his statement didn’t raise any red flags for Stevi.

  Trying to act nonchalant, she tore open the envelope and pulled the card out. She read it immediately. Twice, it seemed, given the length of time it took before she looked up at him.

  Stevi stared at her father intently. “You really bought this for me?”

  Becky quickly stepped in, giving Steve time to compose his answer. “I told you that your dad was a thoughtful man.”

  Stevi tried not to look as if she was affected by this gesture, but it was obvious she was.

  “It’s nice,” she finally said. “Really nice,” she added, her voice thick with emotion.

  Becky could see that Steve was uncomfortable lying to his daughter. But if he said anything about it, any territory that had been gained would be lost, possibly permanently. So she stepped in again. “Dinner’s going to get cold,” she warned, ushering both of them to the table.

  If Stevi was going to say anything further about the card, she forgot about it the second she saw what was waiting there. “You made tamales,” she exclaimed. “And quesadillas!” She was the picture of surprise as she turned toward Becky. “How did you know these were my favorites?”

  Becky’s smile would have made the Mona Lisa envious. “I always believe in doing my research, even when it comes to something simple like food. Now eat,” she urged both father and daughter as she sat down to join them. “These things taste much better warm than cold.”

  * * *

  “Wow, I am really full. I shouldn’t have eaten so much,” Steve confided. He was seriously considering loosening his belt, but refrained.

  “Overindulging once in a while never hurt anyone,” Becky told him. “Do you have room for dessert?”

  Steve responded with a groan.

  “All right, moving on. How about you, Stephanie? Any room for dessert?” Before the girl answered, Becky delivered the crowning argument. “I bought helado.”

  Her eyes grew huge. “Really? You did?”

  “I did,” Becky answered proudly. Finding the dessert had taken effort.

  “Sure!” Stephanie cried.

  Steve looked at her, puzzled. He had no idea what Becky and his daughter were talking about. “What’s—whatever you just said?” he asked.

  “It’s ice cream, Dad. Mexican ice cream,” Stephanie clarified. Her eyes sparkled as she looked at the housekeeper. “Becky, you’re the greatest!” she cried with enthusiasm, no longer trying to maintain a facade. “Isn’t she, Dad?”

  Steve responded with a smile. As far as he was concerned, Becky was a lifesaver—and she had given him back his daughter, however temporarily. “You’ll get no argument from me,” he replied, looking at Becky.

  Becky could feel herself blushing, and struggled to bank down her response. She rose quickly from the table before either one of them could take note of the fact that her complexion had reddened. Red was not her best color.

  “Well, you two are certainly easily bought,” she quipped.

  Taking the large container out of the freezer, she placed it on the counter next to three bowls. Using an ice cream scoop, she doled out servings for each of them, then brought them to the table.

  Steve watched her balance all three bowls and then distribute them. “That’s a pretty neat trick,” he commented, clearly impressed.

  “Oh, this is nothing,” Becky said, shrugging off the compliment. “I worked as a waitress part-time while I was in school.”

  Stephanie looked up at her, confused. “I thought you said you had a scholarship.”

  “I did,” she replied. “The scholarship paid for all my classes, but I still needed to earn spending money for incidentals. Being a waitress was good training.”

  “You, Rebecca Reynolds, are an endless source of surprises,” Steve told her.

  The comment pleased her as she took her seat at the table with them.

  “I’m glad you think so,” she murmured. Then, because she didn’t want too much attention focused on her, especially today, since it belonged to Stephanie, she glanced at Steve and said, “Didn’t you say that you wanted to ask Stephanie something?”

  “Right. I did,” he agreed. He looked at his daughter. “Stephanie, how would you feel about going camping this weekend?”

  Stephanie’s spoon halted in midmotion. “With you?”

  “Yogi Bear was busy, so yes, with me.” The corner of his mouth curved in amusement. “So is that okay with you?”

  She raised her chin defensively. “Aren’t you going to be working?”

  “No. I cleared my schedule,” he said. “I told them that someone else was going to have to handle the emergencies.” He smiled at his daughter. “I had some memories to recapture with my daughter—and hopefully, maybe a fish or two while we were at it. What do you say?”

  Stephanie appeared to be thinking her answer over. She looked toward Becky. “Can Becky come with us?”

  Alarms went off in Becky’s head as she tried to beg off. “Oh no, this is father-daughter time. I really don’t think I should intrude.”

  “You wouldn’t be intruding, Becky. Would she, Dad?” Stephanie asked, turning toward her father for backup.

  “Not at all,” Steve said. “As a matter of fact, I think it might be fun.”

  Becky shook her head. “Oh no, I’m not fun outside, really,” she insisted. “I don’t know the first thing about camping.”

  “We’ll teach you,” Stephanie declared. “Won’t we, Dad?” she asked, her enthusiasm growing with each word she uttered.

  “We sure will,” Steve told his daughter. “By the time we finish, Becky will be a seasoned camper. I guarantee it,” he said, looking at her with a big grin on his face.

  “So how about it?” Stephanie asked her eagerly. “Will you come?”

  There was no getting out of this. She had a feeling that if she protested too hard, she could throw a wrench into this whole setup. She couldn’t take that chance, even though she knew nothing about camping, and the idea of sleeping on the hard ground was definitely not enticing.

  Becky could only sigh and force a smile to her lips as she answered, “Sure.”

  Chapter Twelve

  This was a bad idea.

  A really bad idea.

  The sentence played itself over and over again in Becky’s brain, mocking her. If she had any sense at all, she should make her apologies and beg off.

  Actually, if she had any real backbone—the way she always thought she had—Becky felt that she should just declare that she didn’t want to go on this camping tri
p and be done with it. After all, she had never been an outdoor person, never harbored the desire to be one with nature or fall asleep looking up at the stars, unless they were the kind that were artificially imposed onto her ceiling. Moreover, bathrooms were a very big part of her basic survival requirements, followed by accessible running water.

  The only running water here at the campground Steve had brought them to could be found in the stream where they would be fishing.

  What she had signed up for didn’t fully sink in until Steve turned off the engine and then announced, for her benefit, that they were “here.” Then he and Stephanie got out of the car, and he urged Becky to follow suit.

  She climbed out of the vehicle, moving like a person who was sleepwalking.

  “We’re leaving the car?” Becky asked, holding on to the passenger door. A wave of panic threatened to overtake her. Her knees actually felt wobbly. “Are you sure we should do that?”

  “Cars aren’t allowed where we’re going to be camping,” Steve explained. “Don’t worry. It’ll be fine right here.”

  She stared at what was her last connection to civilization. “It’s not the car that I was worried about,” she murmured under her breath.

  “What?” Steve tilted his head slightly. “I didn’t catch that.”

  “Nothing,” she said, dismissing her words. “I’m just mumbling.” Concern creased her brow. “Do you know where we’re going?”

  “Stephanie and I used to come out here all the time,” he recalled fondly. “She could even lead the way without any trouble. It’s really not that far,” he assured Becky.

  Becky gazed down at all the gear he was pulling out of the trunk and spreading on the ground around them. In her estimation it looked as if they were going to build a small city.

  “How are we going to get all this stuff over to the campground without a car?” she asked.

  “That’s simple,” Stephanie piped up. “We’ll backpack it.”

  Becky looked at everything that had been taken out, and felt overwhelmed. “All this?”

  “It’s really lighter than it looks,” Steve told her matter-of-factly.

  It would have to be, Becky thought. She watched, all but speechless, as Steve began putting the packs together. “And this is what you used to do for fun,” she said incredulously.

  Working swiftly, Steve nodded and grinned. “We sure did.” He glanced over his shoulder toward his daughter. “Right, Stephanie?”

  Becky realized that her temporary lapse about the wisdom of her coming along on this trip might backfire and ultimately have an effect on the girl.

  This wasn’t about her, Becky upbraided herself. This was about Stephanie and her father. If they wanted her along, they obviously thought that she would enjoy this—although she had no idea how. If she gave in to her doubts and uncertainties, voicing them, she would wind up making them feel guilty about making her come along, which would in turn have a depressive effect on the whole weekend.

  She needed to get a grip.

  She pushed her fears out of her head. It was just a couple of days. She could get through this.

  “Well then,” she said, clearing her throat and pushing aside her massive self-doubts, “let’s get started having fun.” Becky began shoving the things next to her pack into it. She saw Steve exchange looks with his daughter. “What?”

  “I think you’ll be able to take more with you if you pack right,” he tactfully suggested.

  “I’m doing it wrong.” It wasn’t a question, but a conclusion. She tried not to give in to a sense of growing defeat.

  “Don’t worry. I’ll show you,” Stephanie cried, abandoning her own backpack and coming over to her. “Dad had to show me how to do it the first couple of times, too,” she promised.

  “With the right teacher, I’ll catch on,” Becky answered, smiling at the girl.

  The backpack, once Stephanie was finished filling it for her, felt as if it weighed a ton. Becky tried not to show her surprise when she lifted it.

  Steve helped slide the straps onto her shoulders and she had to concentrate really hard not to topple backward.

  She looked at him, trying to hold in her alarm. “You don’t expect me to run with this, do you?”

  “Only if you’re being chased by a bear,” Steve answered drily. He saw the flash of fear that entered Becky’s blue eyes. “Don’t worry. There aren’t any bears here.”

  “As far as you know,” she said, not at all convinced of the fact.

  “I suppose that the park rangers could have always missed one when they went over the area,” Steve agreed for the sake of argument, “but the bear would probably be more afraid of us than we are of it.”

  “I really doubt that,” Becky murmured.

  “C’mon, people, we’re losing daylight here,” Stephanie cried, speaking up.

  “Well, someone’s eager to get going,” Steve happily noted.

  That makes one of us, Becky thought, even as she pasted a wide smile on her lips and said, “She’s right. Let’s get this show on the road. The sooner we can get to the campsite and set up, the sooner you two can show me how I’m supposed to bait a hook.”

  She couldn’t believe she’d actually said that, and congratulated herself for doing so without shivering or making a face.

  Stephanie, wearing her backpack and walking ahead of her, turned around and stared. “You don’t know how to bait a hook?”

  “Never needed to,” Becky replied. “I get my fish from the supermarket.”

  The momentary look of pity passed from the girl’s face. “Don’t worry,” Stephanie told her. “Dad’ll show you how it’s done. Right, Dad?”

  Turning to look at Becky, Steve smiled. “It’ll be my pleasure.”

  That wouldn’t be her definition of pleasure. “I wouldn’t count on that if I were you, Steve,” Becky responded.

  He laughed at her tone. And then he noticed her rather unsteady gait as she made her way up the trail. It was obvious that the backpack was weighing her down.

  “You want me to take some of the things in your pack for you?” he offered. He began to reach for it.

  “No.” Becky waved his hands away. Stephanie’s pack had to be around the same weight as hers. If the ten-year-old could manage it, she was determined to do the same. “Just promise me if I fall on my face, you won’t laugh.”

  His eyes sparkled with humor. “I promise.”

  * * *

  Becky found she had to bite her tongue not to voice the eternal question: Are we there yet? Even though she wanted to ask it with every plodding step she took.

  And then, finally, when she was just about to give up, she saw it. Saw the area that was obviously the campsite Steve and his daughter were heading toward. The spot appeared to be about fifty feet from the lake.

  Stephanie saw it at the same time. “We’re here!” she declared happily.

  Becky thought she’d never seen anything so beautiful in her life.

  “Can I take this pack off now?” she asked, sounding a bit breathless.

  Steve struggled to keep from laughing. He had a feeling that Becky wouldn’t be too pleased with him if he did, and he really didn’t want to hurt her feelings. She was trying so hard.

  “Absolutely,” he told her.

  “I’ll help you set up the tent, Dad,” Stephanie volunteered. She looked at Becky. “You wanna help, too?”

  What she really wanted to do was drop to the ground and just rest, but she knew that wasn’t the response that Stephanie was after.

  “Sure. I want the full camping experience,” Becky answered.

  Pleased, Stephanie took charge. Her father obligingly stepped back and let her take the lead. “Okay, this is how we put up the stakes...”

  Becky listened intently. She did her best to follow instructions and was pleased to find
that the result she achieved was better than she’d anticipated.

  She had to admit she was surprised as well as impressed that none of them wound up getting in each other’s way, especially since part of the time she felt as if she was flying by the seat of her pants.

  * * *

  “You’re a natural,” Steve told her, once they had finished putting up the tent.

  “A natural klutz?” Becky asked, having no illusions about her outdoor abilities.

  “No, a natural camper,” he corrected. “You’re way too hard on yourself, you know.” Steve brushed off his hands. “You want to rest for a while?”

  More than anything in the world, Becky thought. Every bone in her body cried “Yes” in response to his question, but technically, she knew they hadn’t even gotten started yet.

  Neither Steve nor his daughter appeared the least bit tired, and earlier Stephanie had said something about wanting to get setting up camp out of the way so they could really “get started.” So she knew if she said yes and took Steve up on his offer to rest, she’d be letting Stephanie down.

  “No,” Becky answered, with as much energy as she was able to summon. “I want to fish. That’s part of the reason we’re out here, right?”

  “Right!” Stephanie exclaimed, excitement dancing in her eyes.

  Steve leaned over so that only Becky could hear what he was about to say. “Thank you for this,” he whispered into her ear.

  His breath created warm ripples that spread to every part of her body, temporarily short-circuiting her brain. It took her a couple of seconds to get hold of herself enough to answer, “Sure. Don’t mention it.”

  It took a few more minutes for her pulse to get back to normal.

  “So, ready for your lesson?” Steve asked, taking out two of the poles.